Day 77: Cammachmore Bay to Dinnet, Royal Deeside

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021

22nd March 2021: 99.98km walked today taking the total to 7876.19/8868km. 17% of 81 entries submitting 588.12km.

We continue down the east coast to Stonehaven before heading inland to Drumoak in North Deeside before passing through Crathes, Banchory, Kincardine O’Neil and Aboyne as we follow the course of the River Dee.

Route 22: Aberdeen to St Andrews

There are many geological features along the cliffs and rocky coastline as we press on from Portlethen through Downies, a clifftop village on Cammachmore Bay, on to Newtonhill. Newtonhill, another fishing village, once called Skateraw, had its name changed with the arrival of the railway line; the line, however, closed in 1956.

At the next village of Muchalls, we see evidence of the rugged coastline in the form of sea stacks, cliffs and headland, so typical of the east coast. In Victorian times it was classed as a resort and was visited by Charles Dickens, who described it as a ‘remarkably beautiful place’. There are sea caves, one once accessible from Muchalls Castle, a little inland from the village itself. The castle was built in circa 1300 as a tower house for the Frasers of Muchalls. By 1615 the Burnetts of Ley owned the castle and they rebuilt on the site of the existing structure in 1619. The Burnetts played a role in the Scottish Reformation and influential Covenanters also met at the castle in 1638 to discuss matters relating to this turbulent time. The castle also hosted James VII, the Old Pretender, in 1716 during the Jacobite Rising. The castle left the Burnett family in 1882 after which James Robertson, Lord Advocate of Scotland, owned it at some point. He didn’t care for the mile-long tunnel connecting the castle to the sea, said to have been used by smugglers, so had it boarded up at the castle end. Another notable owner was the heiress to the Pringle knitting fortune, Geraldine Simpson. The castle is still occupied today and is run as a stylish bed and breakfast.

At Muchalls we rejoin the A92 for just under 4 kilometres, leaving the road at Perthumie Bay to head into Stonehaven across Garron Point and the Golf Course. At the caravan site we walk the coast once more into Cowie, an area of Stonehaven but once was its own royal burgh. We continue along the cliffs and down onto the seafront, calling in at the Bay ‘Chipper’ for some award-winning fish and chips to eat at the harbour at the end of Bay Walk, probably under the threatening gaze of some greedy seagulls!

Stonehaven has been occupied since Neolithic times and grew into a settlement whose focus was the harbour. The Causey Mounth began here and was an important trade route to and from Aberdeen. The breakwater was built as early as the 1500s and, as the town grew, so did the structures it required. The town shifted to being more important than Cowie when the harbour was developed, continuing to have a rich fishing heritage until World War 2. The Town House was completed in 1790 and stands near the seafront. At the harbour, the Tolbooth was created from a grain store circa 1600; the ground floor has been a museum since 1975 displaying artefacts from Stonehaven’s heritage and the upper floor is a restaurant.

In recent years Stonehaven has become a popular attraction at Hogmanay; not for what you might think. At midnight, the High street is lit up by over 50 people who march swinging fireballs in circles above their heads. Accompanied by pipes and drums, they make their way from the Mercat Cross to the Police Station, after which the balls are then hurled into the sea. The Stonehaven Fireball Ceremony has its origins in a 19th-century fisherman's festival although these torch-lit processions tend to have pre-Christian roots so there are a few theories as to its origin. The sentiment behind this ceremony is to ‘burn off’ the bad spirits of the past year so that the New Year can start afresh. I hope they burnt a few more than usual at the end of 2020!!

From the harbour we follow the coastal path up onto the cliffs, past the Stonehaven War Memorial unveiled in 1923 on Black Hill, to reach Dunnicaer Sea Stack just off the coast. Archaeologists from Aberdeen University have found evidence of a Pictish fort on the stack, carbon dating suggests it may be the oldest Pictish fort to have been discovered.

As we walk the cliffs, we see Dunnottar Castle emerge on its rocky peninsula jutting out into the North Sea. The name comes from Gaelic describing its location, ‘fort on the shelving slope’. The ruins date from the 15th-16th centuries, although the site has been fortified since as early as 400 AD, as it sat on the only road north for centuries. Located on a dramatic peninsula of red pudding stone featuring 50-metre-high cliffs, it is exceedingly durable so, despite coastal erosion, this castle’s land has remained intact. The access to the castle is by a narrow, twisted route that ends in a cliff tunnel, which made it exceptionally difficult to defeat. The castle has played a major part in early Scottish history, right through to the Jacobite Uprisings, so has borne witness to or been subjected to Viking invasion, torching, smuggling, pillaging, bloodshed, execution and rebuilding/restoration. There is so much history here we can only skim the surface but William Wallace, James IV, Mary Queen of Scots, the future King Charles I and Marquis of Montrose all came here, as well as Oliver Cromwell; not all of them on friendly terms!

The Keiths were the prominent owners from the 1300s, losing the castle for a time after Cromwell’s invasion, to later be returned to the family in an unliveable condition in 1695. Cromwell didn’t come here just to take the castle; he was after the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish Crown Jewels, his most sought-after target. All the treasures of Scotland were held here after Edinburgh had been seized and was why Cromwell came knocking at the door. The castle was held under siege for 8 months in an attempt to retrieve them. In 1651 it was the most secure location in Scotland and remained the only place where the royal flag still flew. Concerned that the castle may eventually get taken, the jewels were smuggled out of the castle and held by the Reverend of Kinneff Church; he and his wife hid them under the floor of the church’s pulpit. The castle was surrendered to Cromwell, who found no jewels, and by the time he left, the keep and great hall had been destroyed. The Honours weren’t unearthed until the monarchy was restored in 1660, although the Reverend and his wife regularly cleaned and checked them during this period. They were never used again to crown a Scottish sovereign. The castle was then used as a barracks and prison for religious dissenters before it was returned to the family in 1695.

The family had been residing at Fetteresso Castle during this period, where the Earl hosted James VII. After the 1715 Uprising, they both fled to France and the estate was seized by the Crown. The 10th and last Earl Marischal, George Keith, was convicted of treason; he had never married so the title died with him in 1778. Dunnottar Castle was purchased by York Buildings Company in 1717 who stripped it of its roof and interiors. It was then purchased as a ruin in 1925 by Weetman Pearson, whose wife then embarked on a restoration programme. It remains in the Pearson family, part of the Dunecht Estates, and is run as a visitor attraction.

Dunnottar Castle is often described as one of the most haunted castles in Scotland with a host of spooky occupants catalogued, including a green lady in the brewery, soldier, deer hound, a tartan-clad girl in the bakery and cries and screams heard after dark. Given its location and colourful past it has attracted the cameras; Norman Reedus filmed an episode of his series ‘Ride with Norman Reedus’ here in 2018 and it was also used as a location in ‘Victor Frankenstein’ (2015) and ‘Hamlet’ (1990). It is also believed to have been the inspiration behind Pixar’s animation ‘Brave’ (2012).

We follow the path down from the cliffs to enter the castle’s bottleneck entrance, understanding now why it was so difficult to invade. Once inside there are 4 acres of flat rock over which the castle buildings are spread out. The remains are extensive, and we visit the restored drawing room and Whigs Vault before we leave the castle behind. We retrace our steps back to Stonehaven, taking a northwest route out of the town on Slug Road. The name is derived from Gaelic, ‘sloc’, meaning ’hollow’ and has nothing to do with our slimy little friends!

We cross the A90 continuing through the countryside taking us into the Mounth Range of the Grampian Mountains. The Grampian Mountains extend between the Highland Boundary Fault (which stretches from Arran to Helensburgh then on to Stonehaven diagonally) and the Great Glen, so includes the Cairngorms, the Lochaber Hills, Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui. The rivers which arise from them are the Tay, Spey, Dee, Esk and Don; to name a few! The mountains were first recorded by the Roman historian, Tacitus, as ‘Mons Graupius’. A spelling error which arose in a publication dating 1520 saw the name Grampian emerge and has remained to this day. In the Middle Ages, they were known as the Mounths; by the 19th century, they were referred to as one range despite historically being known as many. Despite that, the view is still strongly held that the mountains consist of many different ranges and so as a result have no single name in Doric or Gaelic.

We are still on Slug Road, known today as the A957. We cross Cowie Water on the Fetteresso Forest’s northern edge and continue through the mountains, surrounded by several prominent peaks. Another ancient trackway nearby called Elsick Mounth crosses the mountains to the north through Durris Forest, which connected Stonehaven with Drumoak on the River Dee. The trackway was used by Romans, who had Raedykes and Normandykes camps along the river, and most probably by locals long before Roman arrived; it is still an enjoyable walking route today. From Cowie Water Bridge we press on for 9.2 kilometres before leaving the road to continue on our route northwest to reach the banks of the River Dee. We are now on the South Deeside Road where we bear right into Kirkton of Durris. We pass through the tiny village and walk a further 3.4 kilometres to turn towards the river and Drumoak. 

Before crossing the river, we leave the road to visit Keith Tower. This was constructed by the Gordons to commemorate the winning of a lawsuit in 1824. A man called John Innes had let the estate from previous owners, but when the Gordons purchased it, they wanted him off the land. Legal action followed, which they won, and poor Innes was evicted and ruined. It is wrongly thought to be the memorial to a 14th-century skirmish, which took place nearby between the Keiths and Irvines of Drum earning it the nickname Keith Tower!

Once across Park Bridge we pass through the village of Drumoak. Also known by its old name, Dalmaik, the name Drumoak has been in use for over 300 years. It is said to be derived from the Gaelic word ‘drum’, meaning ridge of a hill, and ‘Moloch’, after a celebrated saint, verbalised into Moak. The Battle of Keith’s Muir (or Drumoak) took place here in 1402 between the Clan Keith of Drumoak and the Clan Irvine, Earls of Marischal. It was a feud which the Irvines won.

We follow our route north of Drumoak turning into Drumhill Woods to follow the path to Drum Castle, Clan Irvine’s ancestral seat. The castle, initially just a solid tower, was built as a hunting lodge for Alexander III in the 13th century. In 1323 Robert the Bruce gifted the castle to William de Irwyn who was appointed to oversee the Royal Forest of Drum; they lived here for many centuries. The Jacobean mansion section was added in 1619 by Alexander Irvine. The castle saw conflict during the Civil Wars of the 1600s, and again during the Jacobite Uprisings of 1715 and 1745. Despite the 17th Laird having to hide in a secret chamber from Government troops post-Culloden, the family managed to bounce back, remained at Drum Castle and extended it further in 1876; it was gifted to the National Trust of Scotland in 1975. The 117-acre Old Wood Forest of Drum on the estate is all that remains of the royal forest that stretched for many miles alongside the River Dee. The castle grounds also have parkland, lawns, water gardens and a walled garden featuring a collection of historic roses. Another very pretty addition is the Drum Castle Chapel, built in the 1500s, a popular venue for weddings. We enjoy exploring the 3 distinct eras of structure, then wander through the gardens and chapel before heading back to Drumoak where we pick up the Deeside Way path as we leave the village. The Deeside Way is 41 miles long and uses the disused Deeside Railway Line (which closed in the mid-1960s), starting at Duthie Park in Aberdeen and ending at the Old Royal Station, Ballater.

We follow the road for 5.3 kilometres to reach Crathes, part of the Leys Estate, owned and managed by the Burnett family for 700 years. Alexander de Burnard was given the estate in 1323, his ancestors coming over from France with the Normans in 1066. When they first arrived, they managed the estate from a crannog on Loch of Leys (now drained). After increasing their wealth, they built Crathes Castle which was completed in 1596. Being a typical tower house construction, the 5-storey Queen Anne Wing was added in the late 1600s to accommodate the 3rd Baronet’s 21 children! The wing was destroyed by fire in 1966 and replaced by a modest 2 storey wing. They were never the most famous of Scottish families, keeping out of the conflicts of religion and succession so retained their estates, unlike many others. The family lived in the Castle until 1951 when the 13th Baronet of Leys gave the castle and its estate to the National Trust for Scotland (NTS). It is still the seat of the Burnett family and the present chief lives nearby in the House of Crathes. It is said to be haunted by the Green Lady thought to be a servant girl or ward of the Laird who disappeared after giving birth to a child. They actually found the skeleton of a woman in the room where she is spotted, hidden behind the fireplace.

We take time to visit Crathes Castle set in 595 acres of woodlands, marsh, ponds and streams. The castle is surrounded by fabulous gardens; yew trees planted near the castle in the 1700s are trimmed into unique shapes, lending a distinctive character to the building. Near the NTS cafe, there is a climbing wall and a high-level assault course through the tree canopy; the area also boasts several walking trails.

We retrace our steps back to the road where we pass Milton of Crathes. Work is underway here to reconstruct the railway line into Banchory. The Royal Deeside Railway, formed in 1996, operates a steam engine on just over a mile of track, taking you to Birkenbaud Crossing alongside the River Dee. The same stretch of track was used by the Royal Train to and from Balmoral Castle between 1853-1966. Slightly further along the road, we pick up the Deeside Way again and follow its path along the river course into Banchory or ‘Bunkry’, as it is said in Doric.

‘Bonnie Bunkry’ lies at the foot of another famous Aberdeenshire hill, Scolty, and is also known as the ‘Gateway to Royal Deeside’. An early Christian settlement was founded here by St Ternan and the parish was known as Banchory-Ternan until the 1970s. It is an attractive town, the largest in the area and has grown rapidly since 2001. It was the birthplace of legendary Scottish dance master, fiddler and composer, James Scott Skinner (1843-1927) and there is a small museum in the town telling you about him and the heritage of the area. Scotland’s only rum distiller, Dark Matter Distillery, also started production in the north of the town in 2015. Notable people: Peter Cashmore, founder of technology blog, ‘Mashable’; Ben Kilner, Olympian snowboarder; Victor Hugo, actor; and Andrew Considine, Aberdeen FC footballer.

The town is located where the River Feugh meets the River Dee, so we cross the Bridge of Dee to the south bank of the river to see the Falls of Feugh, on the River Feugh, from a bridge bearing the same name. The Waters of Feugh rise in the Forest of Birse, in the Grampian Mountains, cascading over rocks near its confluence with the River Dee to create the falls. It is also a great place to watch the salmon leap between September-November and February-March as they return to their spawning grounds upriver. On the bridge is a great example of a toll house, where travellers would go to pay for road use. During the 1800s turnpike roads were built throughout Scotland to improve transport links, and charges were put in place for their use.

From the falls, we take a walk up Scolty Hill (299m) through the Scolty Woodland Park, popular with walkers and mountain bikers; it is part of the Blackhall Forest, managed by Forest and Land Scotland.

At its peak is the General William Burnett Monument, nicknamed Scolty Tower, a distinctive 20 metres high, constructed in 1840 as a memorial to the General who fought alongside Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars. A viewing platform was added during its restoration in 1992 giving fantastic views across Banchory, the Dee Valley and the Grampian Mountains.

Returning over the Bridge of Dee, we continue westward on the A93 passing Banchory Golf Club, then Inchmarlo Golf Centre on our way out of town. We leave the banks of the Dee for now and head northwest picking up a minor road at the Bridge of Canny for nearly 6 kilometres. Passing through tree-lined roads past Craiglash Quarry we return to the North Deeside Road (A93) heading into Kincardine O’Neil. The village was once known as ‘Eaglais Iarach’ or ‘Lower Church’ in Gaelic, named after the now ruined Church of St Mary which we pass on walking through. The church was founded in the 1200s and a hospital was also built next to it at the time, serving as an inn for travellers and as a final home for elderly and destitute men. The church was used till 1862 when it was replaced by a Parish Church further along the road.

There were once 36 important ford crossings at Kincardine O’Neil where the ancient Cairn O'Mount Road tracked north, influencing the development of the settlement. Armies crossed here en route to battle and later the route became a drover’s road for moving Aberdeenshire cattle to the markets south in Crieff and Falkirk. The Bartle Fair was held annually, bringing wealth into the area; many thousands of cattle were bought and sold on the Bartle Muir. The village is a conservation area today and there are very few properties under the age of 100. Kincardine Castle, north of the village, is relatively new, being a late-Victorian fantasy castle constructed between 1894-96 hinting to an older age. Mary Pickering bought the Kincardine Estate in 1888 and had the castle built. The family have continued to live at the castle; it was used as a hospital during the 2 World Wars and is now run as an exclusive-event hire with the gardens opening one day a year under Scotland’s Gardens Scheme.

We return to the A93 heading west, but leave the main road shortly after, to walk uphill through Dess Woods, alongside Dess Burn to visit waterfalls of the same name. Located in a wooded glade the pool at their foot is a great place for a wee dip! We return to the main road junction where we spot an old stone inserted into a wall. This is a Gallows Stone, which looks like a millstone but was used to hold the gallows’ post in position. There is a plaque on the stone: ‘The Gallows Stone was originally placed on the adjacent Gallows Hillock where justice was administered by the Barons of Barony until deprived of their feudal powers in 1747’. We continue west for a short time before walking part of the Old Deeside Road, now a minor road and track through fields, until we reach Aboyne. The Old Deeside Road was one of the oldest thoroughfares running from Aberdeen to Braemar. There is a book, ‘Old Deeside Road: Its Course, History and Associations’ by G M Fraser (1921), which talks about the old route if you can get your hands on one.

Aboyne has been inhabited since early times, a castle being here since the 13th century to guard a strategically important place at one of the few passes north here. Centuries later, the arrival of the bridge, then the railways in 1879, combined with the spending power of resident Sir Cunliffe Brooks, saw Aboyne develop into the tourist resort we see today. Aberdeen Water Ski Club operates on Loch of Aboyne north of the village, and by crossing the bridge to Birsemore, you can pick up Fungle Road, also called the Forest of Birse Mounth. This takes you south through the hills to Tarfside, one of the most important Mounth Passes used by whisky smugglers and drovers. It joins up with the Firmounth Road leading onto the Whisky Road, ending at Bridgend of Lethnot further south.

As for Aboyne Castle? It is not open to the public and not much history is known of the place. Nothing remains of the original castle and what is there today has been restored, rebuilt or extended several times. The prominent owners have been the Gordon family since 1449 and they remain the owners today. On arriving in Aboyne we take a road heading towards the river, past Charlestown Green, to follow a trail along the river bank enjoying the scenery before returning to the main road once more.

As we head out of Aboyne we pick up the Deeside Way once again, heading along the A93 through Dinnet, where we cross the eastern boundary into Cairngorm National Park.